If you’re like a lot of people, you wish you could go back and live in a different time period. And for many of those people, the 1950s-1960s is where they would go. This is a light-hearted movie that allows the viewer to do that. Directed by George Lucas, American Graffiti is set in Modesto, California in 1962. It centers around a group of recently high school graduates who are about to go their separate ways. It’s the last night before two main characters Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) are about to go off to college, so the whole crew just wants to have a good night together. They plan to go to the hop and cruise the streets of Modesto to see what/who they can find. But the night turns into a series of adventures for all the main characters, each one interesting and entertaining.

This coming-of-age movie played a heavy influence on later similar movies. Dazed and Confused is my favorite all-time movie, and you can easily see the similarities between American Graffiti and Richard Linklater’s film. The characters in this movie are also very relatable, even to people outside of that generation. Since everyone goes through high school, it is very easy to relate to the many situations and characters in this film, which really pulls the viewer in.

If you are at all interested in the 1950s-early 1960s culture, this movie is for you. For those of you who never lived through that time period, like myself, it creates an extreme interest and curiosity of what all aspects of life were like then. It takes you to another time period and by the time the movie is over, you wish you actually had lived through it. For those that did experience this time period, it is a film that uses nostalgia to draw them in. They see it, remember similar scenarios in their lives, and wish they could go back and re-live them. Aside from nostalgia, the soundtrack plays a huge role in this movie as well, and is a great feature. So many awesome songs play throughout this movie that take you back into the time period. Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and The Beach Boys all have music featured in the movie, and that’s just to name a few. I’m really glad I picked this movie up and could actually re-watch it the very next day. I highly recommend to all audiences.

Rating: 4.25/5

Garett

American Graffiti Movie Review